About this time of year, devotees of the airline frequent flyer programs try to jam in unnecessary extra trips to obtain (or maintain) their cherished elite status. This clever video animation questions that practice.
As most TICKET readers know, elite status bestows benefits such as early boarding, access to better seats, easier upgrades and baggage fee waivers. To earn elite status, you need to fly at least 25,000 miles per year. But many TICKET readers point out, 25,000 (and silver status) is not enough to get much anymore. So many are gunning for 50,000 (Gold) or 75,000 (platinum) where real benefits start to kick in.
Here’s another idea: CONTRIBUTE TO TO A CAUSE, EARN MQM MILES. SkyMiles members hoping to top off accounts with Medallion Qualifying Miles this year can donate to a variety of causes, including AID Atlanta, and earn 2500-5000 MQMs. Not bad! Details.
Are mileage runs a smart move or an exercise in futility? Why or why not? Are YOU taking a mileage run this year? If so, where to and how much are you paying and how many miles will you earn? (One TICKET reader emailed to tell us he got a cheap last minute seat to Johannesburg on Delta, which will push him into Platinum status this year.)
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Check out Part 2 to my video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDToRIUoC_0
If you can charge 30k per year, the annual fee on the Delta Reserve card is less than the cost of a mileage run, especially when you factor in your time. I get 60k MQMs on the card alone. I expect that to be curtailed soon, but I’m loving it while it lasts.
Just received email detailing MQM’s for donation to Atlanta area charities and gives reason for consideration since I was considering as Atl-Gatwick turnaround costs same and double mile Jfk-Manchester is pain on 757 plus possibility of bad weather. Silver won’t cut it for heavy travel next year. Amex 15k mqm bonuses helped with light travel this year.
I haven’t had to do a mileage run since 1993, which was also the first year I made Royal Medallion (Way-Back Machine, anyone?). I’ll never forget it: I was at 59K+change and I’d made all of my scheduled business trips for the year in mid-December. Then, Delta announced a Christmas Day sale and I saw a roundtrip fare from Atlanta to Augusta for only $29! I checked the schedule and saw where I could fly out at 8 AM and be home before noon (i.e., still make Christmas dinner no worse for wear) — in fact, Delta used the same equipment on the return after a 45-minute layover. There weren’t more than a couple dozen people on the plane, and when we got to Augusta about half of them sat down in the boarding area (like I did); we were all doing mileage runs! I haven’t been on the margins since, and I’m not enough of a mileage junkie (nor do I have enough free time) to try to find an around-the-world itinerary for $300. I’d do it again under similar circumstances, though.
I needed about 4,000 miles to reach Diamond Medallion (for the first time) and so convinced my wife to fly out to Los Angeles from Atlanta for Thanksgiving ($248 RT). This wouldn’t quite quite get me to 125,000 MQM’s, but one more RT to anywhere would have completed it. Then, two days before we were to leave, I noticed an extra 10,000 MQM’s had been added to my account. It turned out I had reached a threshold with my Delta American Express Platinum card charges, and they gave me enough to get me well into the Diamond level! If you don’t know about that perk with the Delta Amex, look into it. Still took the trip to LAX since the miles will roll over to next year.
milage run this year will consist of IAH-LHR-EWR-DEN-IAH. added as additional legs to a work trip that preceded the IAH-LHR so its only costing me $400 additional. Still dropping from Platinum to Gold, but given heavy work travel, its always worth it.
Sent to us via email from Dr. J:
End year mileage run: DTW-CDG on Air France. Booked M fare or higher on Delta, produced A/W (Premium Voyageur) on Air France for $1250. With DL SWU (upgrade), will be flying in Affaires. Already have Platinum for 2011, trip is for carryover for 2012 Elite.
I’ve never personally done a “mileage run” to earn or maintain status. However, if you’re “right on the bubble” it might make sense. Particularly if you can book a cheap enough round trip somewhere. Alot of it depends on which level you’re going to cross. About the only thing useful about Silver anymore is the “Zone 1” boarding. Gold, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Your upgrades are more likely to clear, but the bulk of that depends on which cities you’re flying in/out of. On many routes, even a Platinum can have trouble getting upgraded. That said, I’d be more likely to do a mileage run to earn/maintain Platinum and/or Diamond. It all depends on how close I am.